Grab driving motions



Dec. 16, 1952 -rm 2,621,534

GRAB DRIVING MOTIONS Filed Nov. 4, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Dec. 16, 1952 MARTIN 2,621,534

GRAB DRIVING MOTIONS Filed Nov. 4, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 16, 1952 R, MART N 2,621,534

GRAB DRIVING MOTIONS Filed Nov. 4, 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Flg 11 1O 21 i 2] v I V E N7'0 1e Z aux: 7 5 MfllfiT/A/ 6 M %.Lg G.

Patented Dec. 16, 1 952 r U N I TED S S N T Fl C E .GRAB;DRIVING' MOTIONS Louis'yRen. Martin, Casablanca, Morocco; as-

- -signor -tc=So c-iete Anonyme so-called: Societe -dEtudes 'etde Recherches Industrielle's 8.10. T.

R. E. M."'A.,-3. Easablanca,:Morocco Application November 4;1950,'Serial No. 194,075

' In'Fran'ce November 8;1949

"jfizfilaims; came-.471)

Considerableskill is requiredfromthe operator of agrabwho. must perform'eight or tenmanipulationswithina very short time. fortheaccomplishment of all-the movements involved by. the

operation of. the machine.

. On. existing. rabs. these movements are controlled by means of a greater or less number of levers (however lways more than two) and of three orfour pedals. Since the operator is un- I able to actuate morethan two levers and two pedals at one time,. he iscompelled to release some-lever or pedalwhen he wants toactuate some other, which results in-the'discontin-uation of certain movements althoughthe. possibility of effecting several manipulations simultaneously and the. whole of them in rapid-and unintersecure maximum efiiciency.

Usually, grabs are equippedwith the following ,The present invention has for its objectagrab control. gear all the parts of which can be actu- Figure 4 isa-plan view which diagrammatically showsthe driving motion as a-whole.

5 a Figures 5. and S -diagrammatically.show in which directions: the hand levers; must be displaced for the control of the various movements of the grab.

. Figure '7 is a, perspective view of a control lever together-with its movable handle andthe related connecting rods.

The driving motion comprises a-pair of; similarlevers l9, which the operator actuates with -either hand;,. each;- lever comprises amovable handle l2; i3=pivoted at I4 to the said lever l0 or peach movable handle throughthe merupted succession would-be-desirable in order to v dium of a rod-,liactuates a bell-crank lever diagrammatically shown at I6; the bell-crank levers ifi are pivoted at vl'i coaxial with. the related .,.lever [0 or II .each of. them actuatesa rod I8 I controllingtheclutch IQ of a load-lifting winch 20 Through the medium of the said bell crank levers It -the movable. handles [2 or l.3.-a re. ca-

pable. ofactuating the clutches 19 irrespective of the position of the lever ID or .I l since the pivot i! of..the.be1l-.crank lever I6 is collinear with the pivot of the lever U! or H pertaining to the movable handlecqnsidered. .Asthe .lever .10 is swung inv the direction shown ated simultaneously or vseparatelyas .desiredwith the aid. of one single pair of levers and. one single pair of pedals, each. leverbeing. pmvidedjwith a movable handle.

. Thedriving motion according .to the invention .ischaracterized. thereby that itcomprises control levers which aredisplaceable in all directions d .oWing to. theprovision of a Z-directional joint I complemented each .with a movable. handle,

.either lever controlling. two movements separately or simultaneously depending on which way said lever 'is displaced, a third movementmoreover being controlled with the. aid of the movable handle.

The whole driving motion vcan thus be-controlled with the aid of one-pair of-;such -levers provided with a movable handle as---just described and of onepair of pedals.

A preferred embodiment of the inventionwill now be described for the purpose'of exemplification and by no means of limitation, reference being had to the appended drawing in which:

Figure 1 is an-elevational view which diagrammatically shows the control ofv theloadlifting winch clutch by means of the movable handle of a lever.

Figure 2 is an elevational view which diagrammatically shows the control of a load-lift- ...ing winch brake by means of. alever.

Figure 3 is an elevational; view .Which-,dia-

by.,-.the arrow 2|, it. pulls. the rod 22 ,which throughthe medium ofa lever 23 liftsaweight 24 and at the same time looses the brake 25 wrapped about, the drum 26.. As the lever I0 is swung,.;back to its.initial .position., .thebrake and is..t .ht nf d y. t eaction of theweieht 24 and. dithe, lever 2 3. By,.."p.ulling the .lever ,l0,. against the.direction shown by the arrow 2|, the. brake band 25 is .pressedmore. tightly against the drum 26, and the braking actionis increased.

..' ..The.. pair of-clutches 21, 29, pertaining to .the mechanism by. Which the frame is rotated in ....either,,.direction areactuated byswinging the .....lever. Win the. .directionofthe arrows 3B, .3! re- -spectively, the action. being transmitted through ..,a.r.ock.shaft 32 to. rods 34, 35.

Theclutch 36,.which. controls the action ofthe pinionwhich drives thewinch 31 adapted to vary -..the .inclination of the. grab boom is actuated by moving the. lever H transversally in the-direction shown by the arrows 39.; the lever H actuates .theclutch .35. throughthe medium ofthe-rock shaft 40, the leverarms 4|, 42 and. the fork 44. v.-,'Ihe..grab.bucket is opened by moving the same lever.l i transversallyinthe direction shown by thearrow 45.

. .Finally, the. driving motion. comprises .a,. palr oi,-.pedals 46, flwhich. respectivelycontrol the grabv .engine throttle and; the engine clutch. v, ,The perspective view shown in Fig. 7 illustrates grammatically shows the control of-one of the 1.;-

frame-swinging clutches.

.a.pr.eferr.ed arrangement of thelevers [0,1 Land their ...conn,e. c.tions with the varioustransmission zmembers F.0r. instance, the. lever -l 0 is arranged to swing together with the sleeve 49 about the shaft 50 and thereby to actuate the rod 22 of the brake 25 through the medium of the arm 5! rigid with the sleeve 49; moreover, the lever I!) is mounted to swing transversally about the trunnions 52 rigid with the sleeve 49, which results in a shifting of the fork 54 and a swinging of the crank 55 of the crankshaft 32 by which the clutches 21 and 29 controlling the rotation of the grab frame in the horizontal plane are actuated. The bell-crank lever I6 illustrated in the diagrammatical Fig. 1 consists of the arm 56 rigid with the shaft 50, said shaft 50 and the arm. 51 which likewise is rigid with the latter and to which the rod I8 that actuates the clutch I9 of the load-lifting winch 20 is pivoted.

The levers l and II may be mounted on balland-socket joints; anyhow, they are displaceable in any direction intermediate between those which are indicated in the diagrammatical Figs, and 6.

For instance, the operator of the grab moves the lever If) in a direction 58 intermediate between those shown by the arrows 2i and 3!; in this case he pulls the lever It) with one hand in the said direction 53, which results in releasing the brake 25 and rotating the grab frame through the medium of the clutch 29; by simultaneously pushing the handle 12 on lever It) with the same hand he can throw in the clutch [9 of the winch 26.

Consequently, the operator is enabled with his two hands to simultaneously control six movements, or any one, or two, or three, or four, or five of them. With his two feet he can actuate the two pedals d5, 41 which respectively control the throttle and the clutch of the engine.

The preceding description clearly shows how the operation of a grab provided with a driving motion according to the invention can be controlled easily, rapidly and accurately. The possibility afforded by such a driving motion of availing of an eighth simultaneous control of the engine throttle is particularly advantageous.

What I claim is:

1. In a mechanical assembly the operation of which requires the actuation of five different controls, comprising two pairs of controls, each pair having at least one control the actuation of which is required during each phase of the operation of said mechanical assembly, and a fifth control adapted to be actuated independently of said two pairs of controls, a steering system adapted to permit the accomplishment of the whole range of steering operations by means of a single handle having associated therewith a hand-lever adapted to be actuated together with said handle by one of the opeartors hands constantly engaging said handle, said steering system comprising a rotatably mounted shaft having two arms rigid therewith and a tubular shaft rotatably mounted on and coaxial with said shaft, another arm rigid with said tubular shaft, a lever mounted for universal swivel motion about a fixed point on the common axis of said shaft and said tubular shaft, the latter being so operatively connected with said lever as to be rotated thereby whenever said lever is moved in a plane at right angles to said common axis, a handle on the free end of said lever, a fork-shaped extension on said lever opposite said handle, said hand-lever registering with said handle and being pivotally mounted on said lever, a connecting link pivotally mounted by one end on said hand-lever and by its other end on one of said shaft arms, a second connecting link pivotally mounted on the free end of said tubular shaft arm and adapted, upon angular displacement of said lever in a plane at right angles to said common axis, to actuate in one direction one control of the first pair of controls, and in the other direction the other control of the same pair, a rod mounted for rotation about its axis having a cranked end the crank-pin of which is engaged in between the two arms of said fork-shaped extension of said lever for actuation thereby, said rod being in turn adapted, upon angular displacement of said lever in a plane passing through said common axis, to actuate in one direction one control of the other pair of controls,

and in the other direction the other control of the same pair, and a third connecting link pivotally mounted on the free end of the other arm of said shaft, adapted to actuate said fifth control when said hand-lever is moved towards said handle.

2. In a mechanical assembly the operation of which requires the actuation of live different controls, comprising two pairs of controls, each pair having at least one control the actuation of which is required during each phase of the operation of said mechanical assembly, and a fifth control adapted to be operated independently of said two pairs of controls, a steering system adapted to permit the accomplishment of the whole range of steering operations by means of a single handle having associated therewith a hand-lever adapted to be actuated together with said handle by one of the operators hands constantly engaging said handle, said steering system comprising a rotatably mounted shaft having two arms rigid therewith and a tubular shaft rotatably mounted on, and coaxially to, said shaft, another arm rigid with said tubular shaft, a pair of trunnions on said tubular shaft at right angles to the common axis of said shaft and said tubular shaft, a lever formed at one end with a handle and at the other end with a strap mounted on said trunnions and formed in turn, on the side opposite to said handle, with two extensions constituting a fork, said hand-lever registering with said handle and being pivotally mounted on said lever, a connecting link pivotally mounted on the free end of the arm rigid with said tubular shaft and adapted, upon angular displacement of said lever in a plane at right angles to said common axis, to actuate in one direction one control of the first pair of controls and in the other direction the other control of the same pair, a rotatably mounted rod having a cranked end the crankpin of which is engaged in between the arms of said fork for actuation thereby, said rod being adapted, upon angular displacement of said lever in a plane passing through said common axis, to actuate in one direction one control of the second pair of controls, and in the other direction the other control of the same pair, and another connecting link pivotally mounted on the free end of the other arm of said shaft, adapted to actuate said fifth control when said hand-lever is moved towards said handle.

LOUIS RENE MARTIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,748,400 Sabin Feb. 25, 1930 1,863,320 Anketell June 14, 1932 2,391,881 Clay Jan. 1, 1946 

